Low-incomes suffer from the gentrification of their neighborhood. One could think that only low-income house-renters suffer from it, but actually all of them suffer from gentrification. In different ways though. House-renters suffer directly form the gentrification because their rents increase. House-owners suffer from indirect consequences of the gentrification. First because everything in the neighborhood becomes more expensive (shops, food, restaurants ...) and secondly because of the marginalization. They gradually become a minority (social or ethnic minority, often both of them) in their own neighborhood.
I am part of the group working on the Marlo Heights community, located in East Austin and I found some interesting information in the article Austin, Texas : the East Austin Neighborhood.
One of the biggest issue in this neighborhood is the increasing crime. The article confirms that East Austin is the part of the city with the highest rate of crime. Even if efforts are made to tackle this issue, the worsening relationships between the police and the minorities make it harder.
The second interesting information I found is about civic engagement. Civic engagement is one of our challenge with the community. We want them to participate to community meetings and feel involved in the beautification of their neighborhood. This same article teaches us that the challenge of civic engagement is a wider challenge that concerns all East Austin. Those communities often feel neglected, they lost confidence in the government and in the possibility of things to change.
